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1 http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngJapan – 14 Weeks Worth of Sockshttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com
My Disney Collection – Tokyo Disneyland Cookie Tinhttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/11/29/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-cookie-tin/
https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/11/29/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-cookie-tin/#commentsSun, 29 Nov 2015 01:00:32 +0000http://14weeksworthofsocks.com/?p=10498Continue reading →]]>I have a real love of the various tins available in the stores at Tokyo Disneyland and I have shown some previously on this previous post.

This particular Winnie the Pooh theme Cookie tin, I picked up at a Salvation Army store in Queenstown at the weekend. It was only $NZ2, and while I’m trying to declutter the house, this I couldn’t resist.

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]]>https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/11/29/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-cookie-tin/feed/4IMG_3150disneynzIMG_3151IMG_3152IMG_3153My Disney Collection – Tokyo Disneyland Resort tinshttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/10/25/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-resort-tins/
https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/10/25/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-resort-tins/#commentsSun, 25 Oct 2015 01:00:49 +0000http://14weeksworthofsocks.com/?p=10219Continue reading →]]>Like last week’s post about my Disney collection, this week’s items are again the newest items in my collection and coincidentally also from Tokyo Disneyland Resort. I picked up these four tins locally today which I bought online for $1 (yes, all 4 for $1).

The 3 smaller tins are trinket box sort of size while the larger tin is about the same size as a drink sipper bottle.

I’ve no idea what they would have contained originally but likely sweets or some type of snack. The Japanese have a custom called omiyage which is essentially the buying of gifts to take home to friends and family.

Now I have to decide what to do with them, being a collector and trying to declutter the house is a tricky combo. Likely I will aim to find a storage purpose for them.

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]]>https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/10/25/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-resort-tins/feed/2IMG_2470disneynzIMG_2471My Disney Collection – Tokyo Disneyland Party Gras Parade Badgehttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/10/18/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-party-gras-parade-badge/
https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/10/18/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-party-gras-parade-badge/#commentsSun, 18 Oct 2015 01:00:52 +0000http://14weeksworthofsocks.com/?p=10177Continue reading →]]>It was requested some weeks ago that I highlight some items in my collection. Great idea! Thank you for the suggestion and to my other readers please go and visit The new Cryptic Garland where this brilliant idea came from.

I have decided to start out this (probably extensive) series with the newest item in my collection. I picked up this wee gem yesterday at a church fair for 10 cents. It’s a pin badge (or button for my US readers) commemorating the Party Gras Parade at Tokyo Disneyland.

This parade ran from 1991 to 1993 at Tokyo Disneyland and I suspect this may have been a souvenir from the first day of the parade since it’s actually got the date of April 15, 1991 on it.

Tokyo Disneyland Party Gras Parade Badge

If you want to see the actual parade, I found it on Youtube so have a watch.

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]]>https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/10/18/my-disney-collection-tokyo-disneyland-party-gras-parade-badge/feed/1Tokyo Disneyland Party Gras Parade BadgedisneynzZeniarai Benzaiten Ugafuku Jinja Shrine – Kamakura, Japanhttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/04/29/zeniarai-benzaiten-ugafuku-jinja-shrine-kamakura-japan/
https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/04/29/zeniarai-benzaiten-ugafuku-jinja-shrine-kamakura-japan/#commentsWed, 29 Apr 2015 02:00:42 +0000http://14weeksworthofsocks.com/?p=7100Continue reading →]]>Kamakura is a small town and a popular day trip from Tokyo. One of the cool places we visited on our visit to Kamakura was the Zeniarai Benzaiten Shrine.

This is a small shrine but very popular with visitors. The shrine is surrounded by high rock walls and is completely concealed from the outside. Within the shrine area, the spring water in the cave is believed to be able to multiply the money washed in it. This means many Japanese visitors come here to wash-their-dosh. Some of them were washing what looked to be extremely large amounts of money. I didn’t think this was how you laundered money. But maybe Hollywood has it wrong?

My friend Leslie who grew up very near here, also said to let you all know that they have to spent their freshly laundered money right away, or it won’t multiply…

Also, this particular shrine is interesting in that its one that merges Shinto with Buddhism. There are Shinto torii gates and Buddhist statues.

Anyway, onto the pics…

If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to check out some of my other posts about our visit to Tokyo including other locations in Kamakura and also the Tokyo Disneyland Resort.

It originally was housed in a temple, but the building was destroyed by a tsunami in the 1490s, so the bronze Buddha remains now exposed to the elements. It weights around 100 tons and is over 13m tall.

This Buddha is the subject of the poem The Buddha at Kamakura by Rudyard Kipling, which I have put a copy of below the photos.

The Buddha at Kamakura

“And there is a Japanese idol at Kamakura”

by Rudyard Kipling

O ye who tread the Narrow WayBy Tophet-flare to Judgment Day,Be gentle when the ‘heathen’ prayTo Buddha at Kamakura!

To him the Way, the Law, apart,Whom Maya held beneath her heart,Ananda’s Lord, the Bodhisat,The Buddha of Kamakura.

For though he neither burns nor sees,Nor hears ye thank your Deities,Ye have not sinned with such as these,His children at Kamakura.

Yet spare us still the Western jokeWhen joss-sticks turn to scented smokeThe little sins of little folkThat worship at Kamakura.

The grey-robed, gay-sashed butterfliesThat flit beneath the Master’s eyes.He is beyond the MysteriesBut loves them at Kamakura.

And whoso will, from Pride released,Contemning neither creed nor priest,May feel the Soul of all the EastAbout him at Kamakura.

A tourist-show, a legend told,A rusting bulk of bronze and gold,So much, and scarce so much, ye holdThe meaning of Kamakura?

But when the morning prayer is prayed,Think, ere ye pass to strife and trade,Is God in human image madeNo nearer than Kamakura?

– Rudyard Kipling

If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to check out some of my other posts about our visit to Tokyo including other locations in Kamakura and also the Tokyo Disneyland Resort.

]]>https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/03/22/daibutsu-the-great-buddha-kamakura-japan/feed/9P1140833disneynzP1140828P1140829P1140832P1140834P1140835P1140837Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine – Kamakura, Japanhttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/03/13/tsurugaoka-hachimangu-shrine-kamakura-japan/
https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2015/03/13/tsurugaoka-hachimangu-shrine-kamakura-japan/#commentsFri, 13 Mar 2015 01:00:08 +0000http://14weeksworthofsocks.com/?p=7162Continue reading →]]>Our starting point for our day trip to Kamakura was Tsurugaoka Hachimangū the most important Shinto shrine in the area. The shrine was originally built in 1063 and moved to its current location in 1191.

For much of its history, for over 700 years until the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Order in 1868, it was also a Buddhist Temple. One of the oldest Buddhist Temples in the area.

The shrine today is a home of much cultural enrichment and entertainment. There are coffee shops, a kindergarden and two museums (neither of which we visited).

We also visited at the start of the Cherry Blossom (sakura) season so the gardens were just starting to look like spring.

If you enjoyed this post, you may wish to check out some of my other posts about our visit to Tokyo including other locations in Kamakura and also the Tokyo Disneyland Resort.

The theming for the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is Victorian inspired with the Disney touch. Its on the monorail loop at the Tokyo Disney Resort and walking distance to the main gate of the Tokyo Disneyland Park.

The cheapest rooms in the quietest times of year, which only sleep 3, start at 36,000 yen, around $NZ390 or $US305. Like at the Disney Ambassador Hotel, at the busiest times of year, you will pay half this again. There are other category rooms which sleep more people, or are in better locations or themed rooms, but you will start paying around double this price.

I particularly liked the Victorian Doll’s House with its lovely, Disney appointed rooms and characters. Sorry the photos of this are not very clear, I got a lot of reflection off the glass.

Again there is Disneyland Hotel Resort specific merchandise.

If you are interested in shopping at Tokyo Disneyland Resort you might like this post about the merchandise available.

It’s usually the most expensive of the 3 hotels at the resort and near impossible to get a room from what I’ve heard. I wouldn’t know personally as its well outside my budget to stay here.

The cheapest rooms in the quietest times of year, which only sleep 3, start at 36,000 yen, around $NZ390 or $US305. Like at the Disney Ambassador Hotel and the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel, at the busiest times of year, you will pay half this again. There are other category rooms which sleep more people, or are in better locations or themed rooms, but you will start paying around double this price.

Resort specific merchandise

If you are interested in shopping at Tokyo Disneyland you might like this post about the merchandise available.

]]>https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2014/12/28/tokyo-disneysea-hotel-miracosta-japan/feed/4P1150577disneynzP1150572P1150573P1150574P1150575P1150582P1150584P1150585P1150586P1150587P1150588P1150589P1150590P1150591P1150593P1150594P1150597P1150598P1150599P1150600Resort specific merchandiseVisiting Asakusa Shrine in Tokyo, Japanhttps://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2014/12/11/visiting-asakusa-shrine-in-tokyo-japan/
https://14weeksworthofsocks.com/2014/12/11/visiting-asakusa-shrine-in-tokyo-japan/#respondThu, 11 Dec 2014 04:00:05 +0000http://14weeksworthofsocks.com/?p=5483Continue reading →]]>Our first day in Tokyo we visited the Tokyo suburb of Asakusa. We caught the train following some easy directions from the ticket counter. Try as hard as we could, even with non-existent Japanese we couldn’t get lost. On a couple of occasions we even had helpful locals ensure we got onto the right train – even with their limited or non-existent English.

Asakusa is known for its Shrine which was built in 1649 and luckily survived through World War 2 when many buildings were destroyed. There is also a small market here. We just simply wandered around and explored the area immediately around the temple for a couple of hours. Even though it was spring and the cherry blossoms where in flower, it was bloody freezing! This didn’t stop the locals from enjoying their picnics on the waterfront under the cherry blossoms. We eventually found a coffee shop (I think it might have been a Starbucks) and sat with a hot chocolate for an hour or so to thaw out.

There are also some shops in the area and I remember we found the 100 yen store called Seria in a small mall. This is like Daiso but slightly more up market items for the same price. 100 yen is about $US1. What can I say, we aren’t big spenders